Increase the chances of recovering your lost iPhone by enabling 'Send Last Location' in iOS 8

A new and potentially crucial feature in iOS 8 allows an iPhone or iPad to send out its last-known location just before the device's battery dies, increasing the chances that a user might be able to recover their lost Apple product.

The new "Send Last Location" feature will automatically transmit an iOS device's last known location to Apple when the battery drains to a predetermined point. This saved information will provide owners with one more chance to find the missing device before it disappears from the grid.

It can be enabled by opening the Settings application in iOS 8, choosing iCloud, and then Find My iPhone. Turning on the new feature ensures that the location of the device will be sent to Apple and stored one last time when the battery becomes "critically low."

Find My iPhone, iPad and Mac is available to all users with an iCloud account. The location of the device can be accessed by using the official Find My iPhone application for iOS, or visiting iCloud.com.

Other capabilities of Find My iPhone allow a user to place their device in "Lost Mode," which will enable tracking of where a device has been in addition to its current location on a map.

Users can also immediately lock their lost device and send a message with a contact number, in hopes of retrieving it. Apple allows whoever has the lost iPhone to call the number displayed on the lock screen without accessing the rest of the device.

Apple also includes "Activation Lock" to prevent anyone from using a stolen iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. This requires an Apple ID and password to be entered before a person can turn off Find My iPhone, erase a device, or reactivate it.

Finally, Apple also gives users the ability to initiate a remote wipe of a lost iOS device. Doing this will delete personal data and restore an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or even a Mac to factory settings. A user's custom message can continue to be displayed on the device even after it has been remotely wiped.

There's something pitifully sad about a lost iPhone, in its last act before giving up its life and shutting down, sending about its last location in a "Please find me. I'm here" message. Oh, poor little iPhone.

Doing this will delete personal data and restore an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or even a Mac to factory settings. A user's custom message can continue to be displayed on the device even after it has been remotely wiped.

So not exactly factory settings then. The iPhone is still locked and bricked, right?

There's a really useful Lookout feature (iOS/Android) that I think should be included on all smartphones: Lock Cam, which emails you a picture of anyone that incorrectly enters the lock screen combo three times.

There's been a few smartphone thefts making the news in my area where the owner received a pic of the thief and either recognized them or turned the images over to their local police for publishing and identification.

I basically never let my battery run out fully* so this setting is irrelevant UNTIL it gets stolen. So yes, I'll be using this feature!

(* Unless I'm calibrating it. Which I'm glad I just did: I thought my 2-year-old iPhone 5's battery was noticeably weaker than when I bought it, and then I tried to run it down... it ran for AGES at 5%, making phone calls and downloads and even sitting with the lamp on! Turns out my battery life is much better than I thought, but the % meter needed run down and recalibrate for accuracy.)

There's a really useful Lookout feature (iOS/Android) that I think should be included on all smartphones: Lock Cam, which emails you a picture of anyone that incorrectly enters the lock screen combo three times.

There's been a few smartphone thefts making the news in my area where the owner received a pic of the thief and either recognized them or turned the images over to their local police for publishing and identification.

Unfortunately, the efficacy of this relies on the thief not knowing about it, so making it a built-in feature of every phone would greatly reduce its usefulness.

Unfortunately, the efficacy of this relies on the thief not knowing about it, so making it a built-in feature of every phone would greatly reduce its usefulness.

I don't know. Most people would notice they have lost their phone well before the battery runs down and would be using Find My Phone. The send last location is only a second line of defense. For a thief to disable it, they would have to have already cracked the passcode unless they stole it out of the user's hand while the phone was unlocked. Even in that scenario they still can't turn off Find My Phone or restore the OS without the passcode. Send last location would be useful when a force shut down occurs as well.

Unfortunately, the efficacy of this relies on the thief not knowing about it, so making it a built-in feature of every phone would greatly reduce its usefulness.

I don't know. Most people would notice they have lost their phone well before the battery runs down and would be using Find My Phone. The send last location is only a second line of defense. For a thief to disable it, they would have to have already cracked the passcode unless they stole it out of the user's hand while the phone was unlocked. Even in that scenario they still can't turn off Find My Phone or restore the OS without the passcode. Send last location would be useful when a force shut down occurs as well.

Definitely - send location on shut down would be very useful. An optional "send location at set intervals" would also be nice.

I don't know. Most people would notice they have lost their phone well before the battery runs down and would be using Find My Phone. The send last location is only a second line of defense. For a thief to disable it, they would have to have already cracked the passcode unless they stole it out of the user's hand while the phone was unlocked. Even in that scenario they still can't turn off Find My Phone or restore the OS without the passcode. Send last location would be useful when a force shut down occurs as well.

I was talking about the app that takes someone's picture if they type I wrong pass code three times. If thieves knew that all phones take your picture after a few wrong tries, they would just cover up the camera with something. The app relies on the thief not expecting to be photographed.

So not exactly factory settings then. The iPhone is still locked and bricked, right?

The iPhone will be put back to factory settings. It's the equivalent of going to Settings->General->Reset all settings and data (second option down)

But you are correct sir. After all data and settings are deleted from the iPhone, Activation Lock persists as this information is stored on Apple servers, rather than the device.

During the activation process (when the phone is being setup) the phone pings Apple's activation server with details like serial/imei/sim+carrier details and makes sure everything is ok. If the device had Find My iPhone enabled, activation is rejected until Apple ID + password is entered to unlock.